He’d invited you to the fair weeks ago. He was giddy, and you suspected the only reason for his excitement was to show off his aim skills to win you a big teddy bear you’d name after him, then call it your son.
You were laughing over empty lemonade disposable cups now, sitting by a small table that would have to be soon given up for other people to sit at.
A beat of silence, and he was staring. You giggled, a little shy smile on your lips as you looked into his eyes.
“What?”
A little hum came from his throat as he fixed his glasses, shifting his gaze to meet yours.
“Oh, uh—” He smiled a little, tapping at his lower lip. “You have glitter. On your lips.”
You swore you could melt right there. You felt that familiar heaviness in your chest, the one that only indicated it would take you a long minute to compose.
“Yeah,” you nodded gently, trying to hide the amusement behind your smile. “It’s gloss. Lipgloss.”
“I know,” he nodded back. “You just never… Is it new?”
“Mhm. I thought it was cute. Do you like it?”
“I do, yeah. I like how it’s slowly fading every time you lick your lips,” he tilted his head in that sweet way so his, and both of you laughed as his words found you the moment you did exactly what he had observed. “Just like that—but the glitter’s still there.”
“Might be of really good quality, then. I’ll leave them a good review if it doesn’t get ruined after…” Your smirk shifted into a shy, awkward smile as you shook your head, the cheeky insinuation you were about to make dying on the tip of your tongue before it could have any weight in reality. “No, forget it.”
“No, why?” He was almost pouting now, and how you wished you were able to keep your mouth shut. ”Tell me.”
You rolled your eyes, blush creeping into your cheeks as you hid your chin in your fist, his hand gently fixing the edge of your sleeve as second nature.
“I was gonna say…” You sighed deeply, your eyes avoiding his while you still smiled. “A kiss test. But we haven’t…”
The truth was, you’d asked him not to kiss. Not yet, at least. He was your first boyfriend, and you wanted to do things right. You wanted to remember the moment you’d have your very first kiss, you wanted it to be worth the wait. And you’d waited so long already to ruin it just for the sake of it.
“You can kiss me whenever you feel ready,“ he wrapped his fingers around the hand you had resting on the table, caressing your knuckles gently. ”There’s no rush.”
You looked at him, the air leaving your lungs more lightly now. Your expression softened, your lips curving in a smile that spoke the words you hoped one day you’d be able to say out loud:
You loved this boy.
He kissed your cheek right before the click, just to make you smile. Your bodies fit perfectly together in the seat of the photobooth, the teddy bear sitting cross-legged on your lap as your fingers wrapped around its paws to make it wave at the camera.
You had ten seconds before the next picture, and he chose to use them fixing a curl over your shoulder and a longer lock of your bangs behind your ear—all so gently, so thoughtfully, as if his only priority was to make you feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. Because in his world, you were.
His eyes were lost somewhere on you, yours wandering over his face as your heart beat faster in anticipation. You swallowed thickly, reality moving slower than ever as you took the last few seconds of the countdown to reduce the distance between you, your mouth hovering over his as he remained still, allowing you to be the one to make the decision for both of you.
You pressed your glittery lips on his, anything and everything else fading into the background of the most awaited moment of your life, happening right before your closed eyes. The booth clicked, signaling that another picture had just been taken, and you couldn't care less if the next two left were going to look exactly the same: his hand tangled in your hair, your fingers fidgeting with his shirt, his glasses getting in the way but only making it more his, more yours.